There is always a lot being said about how to optimise your app for the Apple iTunes App Store but there is a lot less talk about Google Play Store optimisation.
Before we look at how to optimise for Google Play, it is important to understand the ranking factors that are used in the Play Store ranking algorithm:
- The number and quality of your ratings
- Download numbers (and growth over the last 30 days)
- How many active installs you have
- How frequently people are using your app
- Links to the Google App Store page from review sites
While these haven’t been confirmed by anyone at Google, this is currently what industry experts believe to be the case.
The underlying message is that you can’t just focus on downloads, but you need to ensure that you are engaging people, motivating them to return and re-use your app and that the right people are talking about it.
The Google Play Store is more “search driven” than the Apple App Store so you definitely want your app to be found easily.
As search is the primary means of organic discovery you can greatly influence search rank, and therefore app discovery, by following these tips:
Keyword in the App Title
A keyword in your app title is the most important element that impacts search rank. The right keyword in your title can affect rank position 80 to 100 spots. Identify your most successful keyword and include it in the title.
Keywords in the App Description and Promo Text
Within the app description, frequency of keywords increases search rank. Try to use a keyword multiple times. This can impact rank position 10 to 20 spots.
Also, include the app name in the body of the app description. Unlike iOS, the body description is searched under Google Play. Since updating your submission is easy and quick, you should consider experimenting with different keywords and combinations to see which yield better results.
5 Steps To Improve Organic Discovery On Google Play
- Define keywords that are relevant to your app
- Include top keywords in the app title
- Include app name and all other keywords multiple times in the description. Use city and country names if the description of geographies are relevant to your app
- Test search rank for all your keywords
- Measure and optimize your results from search on keywords